1,500 Mayan Bee Colonies Die - Farmers: GMO Pesticides Implicated

Another huge bee kill, this time its 1,500 Mayan bee colonies,
and GMO Pesticides are directly implicated again in the colony deaths!

Further, the farmers have lost all of the honey, due to contamination!

The Yucatan Times ’ breaking news regarding the
death of 1500 bee colonies caused by the spraying of Monsanto’s Roundup on GM maize in an impoverished Mayan farming community in Mexico.

1,500 colonies of honeybees, from a community in Hopelchen, Campeche, died this February 6 from the fumigation of Monsanto’s GMO’s in a nearby
area.

This has directly impacted more than 50 impoverished families, who recently suffered a poor corn crop due to drought. The community was relying on
their sale of organic honey to compensate for the lack of maize. The current honey left by the bees is also lost due to the contamination of
pesticides and transgenic pollen. sustainablepulse.com...

And, as we have seen in the past, the agencies are once again turning a blind eye!

Alvaro Mena, a mayan farmer from Hopelchen testifies that GMO’s are known to be resistant to pesticides and are planted in large plots, in which
huge amounts of Monsanto's Round Up pesticides are applied.

Several networks of scientists and farmers scheduled a debate, held at the Faculty of Science, thousands showed up to participate in the debate on GM
maize on Thursday, February 7, packed out the auditorium, and the officials would not attend, stating they hold no position, and were too busy to
attend.

Many people are surprised to learn that the European honey bees introduced into North America after the year 1600 were not the first domesticated
bees in the New World. It turns out the Maya of Central America domesticated a species of stingless bee for honey production centuries before the
arrival of the Europeans. Some species of stingless bees can still be found in the Yucatan peninsula; however, as is often the case with invasive
species, European honey bees have replaced many of the native bee species in North America.

All the articles of the bee kill off (since it's been being reported) seem to mention only the (European) honey bees. I don't see any mention of
the native bees of the Americas, so I'm left to wonder if the impact of pesticides and GMO crops are
as hard on them. It would be somewhat reassuring to identify all our pollinators and keeps tabs on them, as well.

Thanks for posting this. My heart goes out to the bees and to the poor farmers of your article who just lost Plan B. Bless their hearts .... what
are they going to do?

Thanks for posting this. My heart goes out to the bees and to the poor farmers of your article who just lost Plan B. Bless their hearts .... what
are they going to do?

Good points you have made on the native bees. I would think they are called bumble bees
in Mexico as well? I know that the Bumblebee population is in serious decline in The U.S.
with the same disorders affecting them as the bumblebees.

I dont know what they are going to do, but one thing is sure, they should stop with
the GMO corn. Its killing the people too!

I can tell you're passionate about this issue burntheships, and that's great! As I have said in other threads, it seems like a regional issue to me,
and it is an incremental problem. Unfortunately there are more places affected because more farmers are buying chemicals to increase their crop
harvests and decrease labor costs.

Good research too, I blame the chemicals and runoff being ingested by the bees. A lot of these farms spray trees/plants using a machine that looks
like a car wash - literally blasting plants on all sides with chemicals - all automated. Or airplane spraying, and whatever other means used.

I expect this to continue until the farmers realize their mistake, and hopefully it's not too late. They need to realize their current methods of
farming are flawed and they need to adapt. Diversity is key. They don't need to rely solely on 1 kind of pollenator, and they should not plant 1 kind
of crop (monocropping) in one spot of land indefinitely, while enriching the nutrient-deficient soil with chemicals.

Things will not change until attitudes do, as usual. In this case it means the loss of bees and/or crops. I would imagine the farmers/apiarists who
have experienced these losses are no longer going to use chemicals, if they can help it.

Originally posted by Philippines
They don't need to rely solely on 1 kind of pollenator, and they should not plant 1 kind of crop (monocropping) in one spot of land indefinitely,
while enriching the nutrient-deficient soil with chemicals.

Yes, they should use sustainable methods, rather than relying on chemical fertilizers, and
pesticides. Crop rotations also, and non GMO. Regional, well we have seen many regions,
this one being in Mexico, others in CA, Florida, the mid west, and Europe. Its not climate related,
it is bad practice related.

I would imagine the farmers/apiarists who have experienced these losses are no longer going to use chemicals, if they can help it.

Yes, that would be the lesson learned, though my heart goes to them as the ones in the
article, they did not use pesticides, someone near them did.

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